Elounda Ilion Hotel Bungalows

What a find this hotel is. Absolutely stunning views right across to Spinalonga and Elounda Bay. Arrived at night, and staff on arrival were courteous, helpful and friendly, which definitely set the scene for the holiday…such a calming tranquil place. Food outstanding quality, and the whole hotel including dining areas, rooms and poolside spotlessly clean. We booked this as a last minute holiday, but feel really fortunate to have found this gem. The staff are friendly, professional, create a friendly and calm atmosphere…and Eva (?) even taught me a little bit of Greek! We would love to revisit this lovely hotel.

Lovely friendly hotel. Fantastic views from pool area. However a little too far out from main resort of Elounda. Daily housekeeping and regular linen/towel change. Pool towels available (refundable deposit). Decent cocktail list but dubious alcohol content. Beer drinkable but wine not good. Food usually plentiful but hot food not hot. Deserts and ice cream were very nice.

Beautiful views, comfortable bed and room cleaned every day. No atmosphere. Hot food cold most of the time. Given drinks in a plastic cup even in the evening. Drinks choice and cocktails aren't nice. Even soft drinks are awful €7 for a decent spirt. Pool freezing cold. There is a phone at the bottom of the hill, so you can get you luggage taken up by a buggy. But when your dropped off in the dark its not noticeable. There are security cameras so you would think they would see you arriving and come down. This hotel wasn't for us, so would return. We hired a car so we could go to some lovely restaurants in Elounda.

A Gem of a hotel.Very clean maid came in to clean everyday. We arrived after midnight and used the phone at the bottom of the hill to hotel.Albert came to get us with our cases.He was great taking our cases right to our room. They laid on some food for us even at that time. The food was very good something for everyone I would imagine it gets a bit samey if staying two weeks. The staff all work very hard and are so friendly The drinks are typical all inclusive local beer wine Etc But Gregory is great and makes lovely cocktails that you pay for but worth paying a bit to enjoy your drink. This hotel is not for people that want lots of entertainment as there isnt any so it makes it great for relaxing and also making new friends on holiday . The views are Amazing and its a 25 mins walk into Elounda which has a nice harbour and shops bars and restaurants easy to get a taxi back for 10 euros

The Hotel is in a stunning location and overall appearance is very pretty. We had a lovely, large sea view room with balcony. Bed very comfortable, fridge, which was a real bonus. The bathroom shower curtain was too short so each time we showered the bathroom floor was flooded. Small issue but irritating. Second morning we were woken up by drilling and banging. Turns out there were builders renovating the room next door to us. Why this would happen in season I have no idea. Reception were sympathetic and offered us another room. It was not nearly as nice as our present room. So we decided to stay in the room we had, despite the building noise. After a day out we came back to a surprise of a basket of fruit, two glasses and a nice bottle of wine to put in our fridge. Nice touch and much appreciated. We were very disappointed that the bar inside the hotel had been stripped out and not functioning at all. Despite the hotel facilities stating there were two bars. This was an issue. With only the pool bar open everything was served in plastic cups. I understand that for around the pool area but do not want to have my drinks every evening served in these plastic cups. I would have loved to have a cocktail in a cocktail glass or coffee and liqueur in a decent glass. Happily to have paid for premium brands if glasses were used. There are great photos on the hotel gallery of a beautiful bar indoors with soft lighting. A great Shame we could not experience this. We went out every night to Elounda as a result. The food was a real mixed bag. Really good variety for breakfast, although fruit a bit repetitive, but delicious. Hot dishes never hot. The evening meals were probably the least enticing. They were mostly slow cooked dishes and could have been tasty but for the fact they were never hot, barely warm, which is not very appealing. The deserts were a little thin on variety, although the Baklava was fab. We happened to have lunch on two occasions and this was a completely different experience. A variety of interesting salads, grilled meats, Greek spinach filo pie, very tasty, and a couple of good pasta dishes. The dessert section was a delight. As I said a very mixed bag between lunch and evening. All the staff worked very hard to keep the dining area and food stations clean and tidy. We found the hotel pool a nice area to relax on a sun bed in the late afternoon and a refreshing swim. In the morning after breakfast it was delightful to sit under the tree on the terrace and have coffee, a cinnamon biscuit, which were melt in the mouth, and read looking at the magnificent view. The beach was a 15 minute walk with a beach bar, sun beds and umbrellas. A great place to swim and enjoy the views once again. We loved Elounda which had a variety of very good bars along the waterfront. The restaurants were varied and offered excellent fish dishes. We very much enjoyed our stay in Elounda and the hotel definitely was a place to chill.

Stayed here mid August. Overall this was a lovely hotel. Just a few niggles, hence the 4. Phone at the bottom of the hill for reception and they will fetch you and take your luggage to your room. We had two rooms next to each other as requested, both were immaculately clean with lovely sea views. A little tired in places, a couple of sunbeds were broken and never moved as were some of the bar furniture and a couple of the brollies were ripped but it’s apparently having a refurb for next year. There were plenty of sun beds, looks like they had brought some old ones out from storage but if you wanted ones on the front you needed to be up early. Always managed to get decent space and could move around later in the day. Nice little rocky platform area down a path opposite hotel entrance with a few sunbeds and lovely, refreshing clear sea. Watch out for urchins. Lovely staff, very busy keeping everything clean and tidy. Gregory at the bar particularly pleasant. Food was fine, some days better than others. Always a vegetarian choice. I particularly liked the spinach pies and the salads but did find breakfast limited. No air con in restaurant which did get uncomfortable. We ate out quite a few times to mix it up. Plenty of parking for hire car. The amazing views from the hotel made up for any negatives.

Upon our arrival we were met by a lovely staff member who was very friendly (unsure of his name). We arrived late but were offered food on arrival, this was continental but did the job. We were asked to pay tourist tax which was €7 a day. We knew this would be the case but wasn’t aware of the price before arriving. We were taken to our room, it was a terraced room, I was originally unhappy about this as I wanted a balcony but it ended up working out ok. The room was clean, modern and comfortable. The shower was good, an olive oil based shower gel was provided which was nice! There was a black out curtain behind the normal curtain, we appreciated this. A bottle of water in the fridge was also provided on arrival. The food at the restaurant did not provide a huge variety and the food was not always replenished quickly but it was delicious. There is beer and wine on tap alongside juice, soft drinks and water. The wine is not good but the beer was better. There is a snack bar by the pool with pizza, chips sandwiches and an ice cream station - we enjoyed this. A wide variety of cocktails are on offer, two drinks at a time per person. The majority of staff were lovely and friendly, particularly Gregory (think this was his name) the bar man. As always there is sunbed wars but we didn’t have to wait too long to get a sunbed. There is a quiet rocky beach down the path on the other side of the road at the bottom of the hotel. Sunbeds and parasols are available here. It was a lovely peaceful spot and we spent a lot of time here. The hotel is quite far from the Elounda main area, we knew it would be a walk but it was not ideal in 30 degree heat. The nearest beach on google maps listed as ‘Elounda beach’ is not what it says it is, it is a private Tui hotel beach bar. There is a bus stop at the top and one at the bottom of the hotel - a time table is available in the hotel’s reception. Unfortunately the bus did not come on one of the days, not the fault of the hotel but worth noting. A taxi to Elounda is €10 and €16 to Agios Nikolaos (each way). We recommend going to Agios Nikolaos for the day. All in all we had a lovely time, the beautiful views of the bay really made it.